The Reading List

Many supermarket retailers offer their health-minded shoppers any number of books and magazines devoted to whole health. Sometimes the titles are merchandised in a health and wellness section, while other times they are in a book aisle or in the pharmacy.

Natural Products Expo West is a great way to find out what the current topics of interest are. Every year, the show sets up a small book store with several dozen books. The usual suspects are there: Andrew Weil, Bill McKenna (who's delivering the keynote address Saturday), Michael Pollan, and their contemporaries.

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Here are some of the common themes we found this year:

Ethics: "Rats in the Grain" about the impact of Archer Daniels Midland, as well as "The Ethics of What to Eat" which tells us "why our food choices matter."

Natural Healing and Health: There were many offerings on tap here, from "Healing with Vitamins" about the "best nutrients to slow, stop, and reverse disease." There's also the rather urgent-sounding title, "101 Foods That Could Save Your Life", which was offset by the more serene "Chakra Foods for Optimum Health."

Lifestyles: Can't sleep? Try reading "Restful Insomnia: How to Get the Benefits of Sleep Even When You Can't." For everything else, there's "The Superstress Solution."

Finally, there's Green Living: A cute bunny rabbit poking up above the grass graces the cover of the self-explanatory "Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Living". The little guy would probably enjoy living in the image depicted on the cover of "Eco Villages: A Practical Guide to Sustainable Communities."